The Gifford-McMahon (G-M) type pulse tube refrigerator is a cryocooler, similar to G-M refrigerators, that derives cooling from the compression and expansion of gas. However, unlike the G-M systems, in which the gas expansion work is transferred out of the expansion space by a solid expansion piston or displacer, pulse tube refrigerators have no moving parts in their cold end, but rather an oscillating gas column within the pulse tube (called a gas piston) that functions as a compressible displacer. The elimination of moving parts in the cold end of pulse tube refrigerators allows a significant reduction of vibration, as well as greater reliability and lifetime, and is thus potentially very useful in cooling cryopumps, which are often used to purge gases from semiconductor fabrication vacuum chambers, to 10 K.
G-M type pulse tube refrigerators are characterized by having a compressor that is connected to a remote expander by high and low pressure gas lines. The expander has a valve mechanism that alternately pressurizes and depressurizes the regenerators and pulse tubes to produce refrigeration at cryogenic temperatures.
G-M type pulse tube refrigerators that operate below 20 K have the disadvantage of requiring that the hot end of the pulse tube be above the cold end in order to avoid the thermal losses associated with convective circulation within the pulse tube. Conventional two-stage GM type pulse tube refrigerators typically have the valve mechanism and the hot end of the pulse tube on top. This enables the heat that is rejected at the hot end of the pulse tube to be easily transferred to the low-pressure gas and returned to the compressor where it is rejected. Conventional two stage pulse tube refrigerators also require a relatively large buffer volume(s). Two stage G-M refrigerators, which are presently being used to cool cryopumps, require no buffer volume and can be mounted in any orientation.
Most cryopumps are mounted below the vacuum chamber where space above the cryopump housing is very limited. Having the valve mechanism above the cryopump housing limits the applications of the cryopump. Thus, any options to orient the pulse tube refrigerator with the valve behind or below a cryopump housing that has a side inlet are highly desirable. Minimizing the size of the buffer volumes is also desirable. Separating the hot end of the pulse tube from the valve introduces the problem of removing the heat that has to be rejected at the hot end of the pulse tube.
The present invention address the need to remove heat from the hot end of the pulse tube when it is remote from the valve.
C. K. Chan, C. B. Jaco, J. Raab, E. Tward, and M. Waterman, in a paper titled “Miniature pulse tube cooler”, Proc.7th Int'l Cryocooler Conf., Air Force Report PL-CP—93-1001 (1993) pp. 113-124, describe a Stirling single stage pulse tube that is inline, thus the hot end of the pulse tube is remote from the regenerator inlet. It has double orifice control. Heat from the hot end of the pulse tube and buffer are rejected to the base at the regenerator inlet by conduction through the buffer housing which extends the full length of the pulse tube. The hot end of the pulse tube is not attached to the vacuum housing so the entire pulse tube assembly can be easily removed.
The object of this invention is to provide an improved means of removing heat from the hot end of a pulse tube refrigerator when it is remote from the warm end of the regenerator. While the primary application for this invention is the cooling of cryopumps by GM type pulse tube refrigerators it is equally applicable to Stirling type pulse tube refrigerators when heat has to be transferred from the pulse tube to a remote sink.